Solana (SOL) is up 5% on news that Canada has launched the first spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are linked to the cryptocurrency.
The launch of the SOL ETFs in Canada drew strong interest from institutional investors, bolstering the price of the crypto that is currently trading at $134.57 per digital token. While several asset managers have expressed interest in a spot Solana ETF in the U.S., none have yet to launch in America.
In Canada, four asset managers have launched spot Solana ETFs, each of which now trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange following regulatory approval. Canada has a history of being progressive on crypto and also approve the launch of spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) ETFs ahead of the U.S.
Solana’s Speed
Two ETFs tracking Solana futures did launch in the U.S. in March of this year, but those funds provide indirect exposure to the digital asset by tracking the price of Solana futures contracts. The Canadian funds are the first of their kind in North America to provide direct spot exposure to the price movements of SOL, beating American asset managers to market.
Solana is known for delivering faster and cheaper transactions than rival blockchains such as Ethereum. However, Solana has experienced network outages and hacks in the recent past. Advocates say the outages and hacks are tradeoffs for the lightning fast speed of the Solana network.
Is SOL a Buy?
Most Wall Street firms don’t provide ratings or price targets on Solana, so we’ll look instead at the cryptocurrency’s three-month performance. As one can see in the chart below, the price of SOL has declined 48% in the last three months.
